I was chatting to my friends Alice Coptcoat and Natalie Hoff at the Acol last week, when Alice mentioned that she’d enjoyed Andrew Robson’s recent BridgeCast about a hand he played against Natalie at the Lederer Trophy. ‘Oh, that hand!’ Natalie exclaimed. ‘It was beautiful. I’ll never forget the way he dropped my singleton king,
Streaks are made to be broken. For many years, the German Bundesliga, the strongest national league in the world, has been dominated by the team from Baden-Baden. Their lineups include the likes of Viswanathan Anand and Richard Rapport as well as England Olympiad players Michael Adams and Nikita Vitiugov. Before this season, they had won
Black to play. Kempinski-Gupta, Bundesliga, December 2023. White has just grabbed a pawn on a7. Which move won the game for Black? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 13 May. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a postal address and allow six weeks for
In Comp. 3348 you were invited to submit an extract in which Charles Dickens writes about today’s London. It was perhaps a slightly smaller haul than usual but full of nuggets. In Dorothy Pope’s rendition, the great author is gratified to discover that ‘my Oliver is playing in one of the many theatres’; while Paul
Twelve symmetrically placed, unclued lights (one hyphened) appear in a form suggested by a word that may be linked to their original forms (all normal words). Their unchecked and mutually cross-checking letters together spell out CRIPPLING LINKMEN DINING IN. Across 1 Bridges crossing American and Asian boats (7) 6 Spanish plateaux framed in rocky seam
Santayana said ‘Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.’ First prize Magdalena Deptula, Eton, Berks Runners-up Jim Knox, Beaconsfield, Bucks; Simon Purves, London N6
